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‘Fantstic Fighters’ turn down Pierce O’Leary offer

Pierce O’Leary [8(4)-0] has all of a sudden found himself high up the list of hard-to-match fighters.

‘Big Bang’ has been denied the chance to start the year with a big statement win after some ‘fantastic fighters’ rebuffed offers to fight him this Friday.

The Dubliner returns to York Hall where he competes against Nathan Augustine [4(2)-3(0)-1] on an MTK card, not a bad fight for a pre-10-0 operator but not the kind of step up the IBox London fighter initially sought.

Having stopped Jan Marsalek and Siar Ozgul as he progressed to eight rounds last year, the 22-year-old talent wanted to start the new year with an opponent upgrade. However.t appears no next-level foes were willing.

“It’s been so tough trying to get opponents. We offered to fight some fantastic fighters, but so many turned it down.”

It’s not a case of ‘Augustine will have to do’, O’Leary points out the French fighter still has the ability to provide him with a test of sorts at the famous venue.

“The opponent I’ve got now is a tough come forward guy. He’s knocked out a few of his opponents too. He’s not to be overlooked and I need to be switched on at all times.”

While Augustine wasn’t Team O’Leary’s first pick it’s a solid enough fight and according to the Inner City product will help him get a potentially big year off to a good start.

The light-welterweight has 2022 title aspirations and believes a win on Friday will help him build momentum.

“I want to finish 2022 with some belts and I’m excited it fills me with hunger. I want to build momentum and hopefully, I’m out in June again.”

Reflecting on the year that saw him start the transition from prospect to contender O’Leary adds: “2021 was a good year for me. I learnt a lot throughout it. I’m in a good position at the moment, all I got to do it keep working hard.

A big part of people sitting up and taking note of Dub was his stoppage win over Marsalek. O’Leary took out a potential danger man in sensational fashion to win the Irish Boxing Awards Knockout of the Year.

He admits he wouldn’t be averse to another big one-punch stoppage this weekend but knows he has to focus on getting the job done before he thinks about finishing it in style.

“It was an honour to win KO of the Year, a great achievement. I always have the desire for KO but it’s about the right timing and I just rather let it come itself, I don’t want to force it to look good, let it come itself. I’m going to stick to the game plan, we will see how his body language is and go from there. But I’ll be hunting to ko him.”

The fight is O’Leary’s first of the year and his first since he took a little break over last Christmas. He is excited to return and does so refreshed after spending time with his young family.

“I am buzzing to get back out, I spent Christmas at home with my family I really enjoyed it. I wanted to spend some time with my daughter and girlfriend because I’ve been isolated from them for so long over the past two years. I thought it was only right, not only for them but for me. I feel refreshed now and ready to go.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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